Sandpapergate: rubbing the wrong way

HAMILTON — Published - November 12, 2026 08:14 am IST, the article revisited Trevor Chappell’s underarm delivery to Brian McKechnie in the 1981 triangular series final and the controversy that followed. It placed that incident alongside a wider discussion of Australia’s tendency to defend hard-edged tactics.

The piece opens by noting Australia’s historical self-image of "playing hard but playing fair" and states that "moral turpitude is a phrase that doesn’t exist in the Australian cricketing lexicon." It recalls Trevor Chappell’s underarm ball in 1981 and says underarm was a legitimate mode of delivery at the time. The narrative also highlights that the episode has continued to draw attention across decades.

The article recounts Greg Chappell’s explanation for the underarm incident, saying "it was at his older brother’s insistence that Trevor delivered the underarm" and that Greg has, "outlined numerous times in the last 45 years his disillusionment with the establishment and the unwelcome prospect of a potentially third and decisive final against the Kiwis" as primary reasons. It notes the match situation precisely: the visitors needed six off the last ball just to tie the game. The piece stresses that Greg’s account has endured through the years.

Reaction to the underarm is described as widespread: "Clearly, the Kiwis weren’t the only ones who were outraged," the article states, and it adds that "several senior players within the playing XI weren’t too amused by the underarm." It records that the act provoked immediate anger from New Zealand and discomfort among Australian teammates at the time.

The write-up connects the underarm incident to a formal change in the game, saying "The rewriting of the Laws of the Game to ban underarm bowling was a direct offshoot of Trevor’s Greg-induced act." It contrasts the scale of the reaction by noting that the underarm did not spark the same reverberations as Douglas Jardine’s "Bodyline," which the article says was aimed at curbing Don Bradman’s prolificity. The piece frames the law change as a tangible regulatory outcome.

The article remarks that Trevor Chappell’s underarm delivery "would be a slur against his name for the rest of his cricketing career and beyond," and it references Greg Chappell as "one of the greatest batters of all time" who was later "to be part of a tumultuous 22-month ride as India’s head coach." Those biographical notes are used to underline the long-term personal and professional consequences the piece associates with the episode.

The article concludes by asserting that, while different in scale to Bodyline, the underarm episode "will remain one of the darker chapters in world cricket" and records the rule change banning underarm bowling as its direct outcome.